Where’s the Lab-Grown Beef?

More than a decade ago, Discover covered the concept of a coffee-maker-like device that could, overnight, turn a few animal muscle stem cells into a nice hunk of meat.

The July 2006 story,“The Way of All Flesh,”explains the vision of biologist Vladimir Mironov: Those muscle cells would be harmlessly extracted from an animal, and with the right nutrients and environment, they’d multiply just as they would in their original host, but even more rapidly.

The idea was to target three issues with traditional meat farming: protect animals from inhumane conditions and eventual slaughter; reduce the environmental damage of large-scale livestock operations; and give humans healthier meat and better food security.